Ghetto Film School Announces $5 Million Donation From MacKenzie Scott at Annual Fall Benefit
Ghetto Film School has received a $5 million donation from MacKenzie Scott, the highest individual gift to the organization in its 25-year history.
CEO Montea Robinson shared the news at the GFS Fall Benefit in Santa Monica, which honored Demi Moore, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Sean Wang. ”We are very focused on the future. We have really, really big dreams ahead,” said Robinson of Scott’s donation.
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The benefit, presented by Sony and sponsored by Amazon MGM Studios and Disney, brought together leaders in the entertainment industry to support Ghetto Film School’s mission of educating, developing and celebrating the next generation of great storytellers.
This year’s event, held at the home of Veronica and Brian Grazer, welcomed industry guests including director David O. Russell, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, Universal Pictures president Peter Cramer and actor Samara Weaving.
During her speech, honoree Demi Moore reflected on her decades-spanning career and offered advice to the young filmmakers in attendance.
”I was a graduate of the ‘university of fake it till you make it,’” she said. “I’m not an expert. I have a lot more experience than all of you because I’ve had a lot more years. But if I were to impart anything, it’s that I try to always stay in the place that I am still a learner. I am a student.”
“I look at the moments in my career that made the difference, and it’s when people believed in me more than I could believe in myself,” she continued. “Don’t ever stop stepping out of your comfort zone, because when you try to play it safe, you never win.”
Wang similarly considers himself a perennial learner, telling the crowd, “It’s really crazy to be up here, because I very much still feel like a student. This year, I got to make my first feature film.”
Of that film, the critically-acclaimed “Dídi,” Wang said, “It was designed to feel very personal and small, and to make stuff with my friends — to make something that felt homegrown and special, and not look necessarily to the industry, but look to the people around me who supported me and saw me and believed in me.”
Harrison Jr. delivered similarly inspiring remarks, encouraging attendees to remember their worth and seek those who uplift them. “It’s really easy to forget what you bring to the table, which is why I think nights like this are so important to all of us,” he said. “We can encourage each other and love on each other and challenge each other, because it’s in between the dream and the manifestation of the dream that this interpersonal work is really going to carry you through.”
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